DVD Players: Reviews

If you don't have (or don't plan to buy) an HDTV, you don't need to spend extra on an upconverting DVD player. This basic Sony DVD player gets kudos for its performance and ease of use, especially considering its low… price. You won't find a lot of extras, but this player does have features that help it read imperfect DVDs (such as Netflix rentals). While this Sony player can't upconvert standard-definition DVDs to near-high-def resolution, it can output video in the progressive format for compatible TVs. It's missing some connectivity options, but unless you're hooking up this DVD player to a home theater receiver or an HDTV, you probably won't need those outputs anyway.

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The Toshiba XDE600 is among the least expensive choices if you want a DVD player that's capable of scaling standard-definition DVDs to near-high-def resolutions. Reports add that Toshiba's extended detail enhancement… (XDE) technology -- unique to this player -- does a better job of upscaling DVDs than any other player at or anywhere near its price. The result is image quality that still doesn't really measure up to Blu-ray, but looks pretty darn good in its own right. One complaint, however, is an inability to display full-screen (4:3) DVDs without stretching them to widescreen (16:9). Audio quality with CDs falls short of perfection, but is perfectly fine for all but the most discriminating listeners. Connectivity is excellent.

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